[VIDEO IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

MK (Machane Tzioni) Itzik Shmuli arranged for 101-year-old Holocaust survivor Moshe Fried to address a session of the Ministerial Law Committee headed by MK (Bayit Yehudi) Nissim Slomiansky. Shmuli heads the Knesset lobby that works on behalf of the elderly and survivors. Mr. Fried explains that while he survived the Nazis YSVZ, he didn’t win with Israel’s Hatza’ot L’Poel state collections agency.

For Mr. Fried, this was a battle to save his home, as he explained to attentive committee members. “I was born in 1915 and maintained a life without debt. Suddenly, I began receiving notices of debt and that caused me great pain” he explains. A representative of the collections agency told the committee it was never their intention to oust Mr. Fried from his home.

Fried had a NIS 1.2 million debt due to a case against his son. That debt began at NIS 36,000 and inflated to over NIS 1 million. As such, the state collections agency decided to compel the sale of his home to recoup the money owed since the elderly survivor didn’t pay it.

Committee Chair Slomiansky during the session turned to the legal advisor of the collections agency asking why the receiver must accompany a representative of the collections agency to the elderly man’s home to take his home. The attorney explained this was simply compliance with the protocol in place, nothing more. Shmuli added the head of the agency told him that evicting Mr. Fried from his home was not being weighed as an option.

Mr. Fried’s home was put up for sale due to his debt and in May 2016, with Fried explaining he earned the house “with blood and sweat”.

MK Shmuli told his colleagues that something must be put into place to protect the elderly, citing “Once one reaches the age of 80, one should be treated differently”.

MK (Yesh Atid) Karen Elharrar pointed out the absurd, that a 25-year-old case sat on someone’s desk and became the state’s best savings plan. She feels there must be a statute of limitations and such cases should be pulled by the computer. She adds that a debt must be collected but that means it should not result in a form of punishment.

MK Orli Levi-Abekasis pointed out that Mr. Fried did not merit legal representation throughout the years and the collection letters accumulated and ultimately a man who is in the weakest segment of society is targeted, one who does not have funds to hire a lawyer. She feels someone must be held responsible for the case lying dormant for so many years.

She adds that 700,000 cases were closed after realizing nothing was done for years but this specific case this was not so. She insists that even if the home is sold in this case Mr. Fried must be protected and allowed to continue living there until he dies.

Fried explained the state officials arrived together with the person interested in buying the home and he was not warned in advance. “They threatened me with additional collection costs” he explained. He laments “It is hard to believe that can occur in our world”, adding “They don’t let me sleep. For this I had to reach 101? What kind of world are we living in? instead of sleeping I see the hangman in front of me. I am here because the tree branch broke”.

His son explained that in earlier dealings in the case, they came to his father’s home and took items including his heater. At some point an attorney volunteered to assist but he failed to show for the hearing. Hence, there was no one to defend him and the judgement was issued. He explains that they took the contents of the home by explaining they belonged to the other brother [with the debt].

Slomiansky and the others promised to do what they can as well as to work to introduce laws to better protect the elderly from such incidents in the future.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)